'Tis the season

After yesterday's pre-Christmas lunch with Iain (who has pretty well recovered from his accidental wiping of 100+ hours of unbacked-up 3D work from his computer), we strolled over to the Geological Society for Michael to return a couple of library books. Then a miracle happened: Michael decided to accompany me up Bond Street to Oxford Street to check out Selfridge's holiday windows.

Some of the more memorable sights on the way, as we detected not a single sign of recession except for our own reluctance to buy anything:

The Royal Arcade, 28 Old Bond Street.

Tiffany's. Notice that in the fourth photo Michael is walking away empty-handed. Such a surprise!

(with reflection of building across the street)

Ralph Lauren (building that was reflected in photo above).

Two more of the MANY jewelery shops on Bond Street, Cartier and Harry Winston.

The most beautiful windows we encountered were at another jeweler's, Asprey, a luxury British brand since 1781 (shop now owned, however, by Hermès).

Public sculpture.

Burberry.

Ralph Lauren—Children's.

Sotheby's, horizontal and vertical. This is the only one of these façades we've ever penetrated, thanks to a lunch invitation from the Kenyons.

Mulberry (I think).

Dolce et Gabbana.

Side alley off New Bond Street, which the road has been called for the last several photos. Not quite sure where the change took place.

Fenwick's. The funfair mirrors remind me of the Anish Kapoor exhibition that's just finishing its run at the Royal Academy.

The Spanish store Zara, on corner of New Bond & Oxford Streets.

Crowd scenes. Note the tacky overhead decorations, a real disappointment this year. You were right, Cheri, about the lights of Oxford Street not being a good enough reason to bring a busload of students over from Germany in December.

Selfridge's, our goal. The 2009 window theme was holiday pantomime: Puss-in-Boots, Cinderella, Snow White, Dick Whittington, etc. These were pretty damned good, but not the most spectacular displays I've seen here. My all-time favorites were the fantasy fairy tale vitrines from Christmas 2006.

Once inside Selfridge's, we bought nothing except a replacement card reader that we needed to transfer photos from our cameras to our computers. I know better than to look in the clothes departments, but even the food section this time seemed beyond the pale. Fun to have a look, though. Here, amidst all the exotic imports from France, Italy, and Spain, are the US shelves. Marshmallow fluff, anyone?